After a rough start to his 2024 season, the Chicago Cubs have optioned right-handed reliever José Cuas to Triple-A Iowa, while recalling fellow righty Keegan Thompson to the big league club in his place, the team announced.
Cuas, 29, has seriously struggled to start his second campaign with the Cubs, allowing 10 hits and eight earned runs in just six innings of work to go along with a pair of walks and six strikeouts.
The 12 ERA performance is a step back from a mostly solid 2023 final stretch with the Cubs, when the righty posted a 3.04 ERA across 27 games and 23.2 innings. However, Cuas' significantly higher 4.90 FIP suggested that he had run into some good luck last season as well.
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As for the corresponding move, it's a familiar face in 29-year-old right-hander Keegan Thompson.
Thompson, who has appeared with the Cubs at the MLB level in each of the past three seasons, enters the call-up with a career 15-10 record and 3.79 ERA across 197 innings.
Previously used as a swingman for the Cubs in 2021 and 2022, Thompson made 19 relief appearances with the club last season, posting a 4.71 ERA in 28.2 innings.
In four games with Triple-A Iowa in 2024, Thompson has yielded three runs in six innings of work alongside four walks and seven strikeouts.
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At the big league level, Thompson offers the North Siders an additional right-handed swingman option, with the role of Ben Brown still mostly undecided following his first career start.
The Cubs continue their road trip Friday night in the Pacific Northwest, taking on the Seattle Mariners at 8:40 p.m. local time on Apple TV.